About a few weeks ago, I decided to take an evening jog to Punggol East and indulge myself in some Popeye’s chicken after the run. I stuffed two $10 notes in preparation for the sinful meal.
However, after the run and meal, when I cycled back and reached home, I realised that I only had coins left in my pocket. The other $10 note was missing. I probably accidentally dropped the other note when I was digging into my pocket to pay the cashier. (Er hem… btw the Mrs doesn’t know about this incident)
So how do you think you would have reacted if you were me?
Cycle back and retrace your route to find the $10 at 9pm? Be pissed off with yourself? Or brush off the whole incident?
The author believes that there is no point being all upset about it and offers a few suggestions.
His first suggestion is to set aside a sum of money for such “unfortunate” events. For instance, at the start of the year, he would set aside maybe $10k for charity and deduct his parking tickets from this fund.
The point is to trick the brain and not feel any “loss”.
However, honestly, this suggestion cuts little ice with me. In fact, when I read this (the first 2 pages of the book), I actually felt the author was being quite callous since he’s making himself feel better at the expense of the charity recipients.
I realised that this strategy was unlikely to work for me and I would tell myself that if I were not so careless, the $10 would have been put to better use.
The author did offer a more palatable alternative though.
I could reframe the situation to my advantage by thanking heavens that I had brought two $10 notes instead of one. Or that luckily, I had not lost both notes before I reached the fast food restaurant. A hungry man is an even angrier man.
I found this technique to be very similar to the negative visualisation technique advocated by the ancient stoics.
Of course, these unfortunate events cannot be so frequent that you have to employ the technique everyday.Then, you would just be a careless person who probably won’t get to enjoy The Good Life.
“Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff” – Richard Carlson
Thanks for reading.
I’m a bit confused by your use of 3rd person and 1st person i.e. “the author” and “I”. It’s best to choose one and stick to it. 🙂
Hi Boon,
Apologies for the confusion!
When I mentioned the author, I was referring to Rolf Dobelli, the author of the book. Hope this will help clarify your reading!
Hor hor… *tsk tsk*
Next time put in body wallet underneath your t-shirt. Or put inside socks or underwear (don’t wear loose ones).
Maybe can pay by smart phone … now just need to make sure don’t lose your phone … Velcro strap it to your arm or around your chest/waist.
Hi Sinkie,
Thanks for your suggestions!
However, put inside socks or underwear sounds a bit gross.
Actually I was wearing a running shorts with a zip pocket, so it’s really unlikely to lose the note. But somehow, it happened.
Happened to me before. Was pretty annoyed but just took it as a lesson learnt and try to be more aware in future.
Now I normally stash it in my phone wallet. Just that with coins it’s a bit troublesome.
Hi Kate,
I guess the learning point is also not to be too hard on yourself when such things occasionally happen.
Funny story. You jog there and you cycle back? Even if you use OFO or whatever, you need a handphone to activate the bike?
Hi Fred,
Yes, I jogged there and cycled back. Since I am having dinner at my destination, I would be too full to jog back. And walking back would likely take more than an hour. So cycling is the best option back. Yes, I held my HP all the way during the run.
Ah….the “shit happens” moment. I lost my wallet in a taxi a few months ago. I mentally kicked myself for (i) being careless and (ii) having earlier decided against leaving at home cash that I had withdrawn to give my parents. Thus, I lost a few hundred bucks just like that…instead of my usual <$50 that I keep in my wallet 🙁
What works for me is to do what we can to salvage the situation (call taxi company, make a lost & found report, etc). Then once I've done everything that I can (so that I can't say I should have also done this or that), I just take a step back and tell myself that in the larger scheme of things, the negative event is something that will be a small blip in our memories.
Hi Mr C,
I feel you there.
Besides the monetary loss, I believe it’s also alot of hassle to call up the credit card companies and also to replace your NRIC.
Hope I am not being too insensitive here but I can seek solace that luckily “I didn’t lose my wallet”. =p
On a more serious note, did you manage to retrieve anything. Stuff like NRIC etc? Sometimes, people are just after the $$$ in the wallet.
Sadly, I didn’t manage to recover my wallet. Credit cards are easy to replace, but official documents are the most time-consuming. 🙁
I sometimes find myself thinking that we should have a safe drop box for stolen/found-but-not-returned wallets. At least the owners can get their important documents back. Haha. But I guess that sends out the wrong signal.